Shadows of the Empire: Tour of Duty
by Kadorhal
Summary: The story of I dunno anymore; I can't find the motivation to keep writing this crap.
1. Battle of Hoth, Part I

**I: Battle of Hoth**

A sudden explosion rocked the eastern wing of Echo Base. One soldier still in bed was thrown off his near-frozen bunk. "Aagh!! What the--?!"

He stood; looked around, and realized he was the only one in the room. _Shit, did I oversleep?_ A quick glance at a clock he had salvaged from Yavin 4 confirmed it. He quickly dressed and grabbed his modified DL-44 blaster. He checked to make sure he had all his gear, then quickly ran out the sliding door.

He made it to the snowspeeders' hangar just in time: one was left. He started off towards it, when he suddenly saw someone not wearing the standard snow gear enter it. _If that one leaves..._ "Hey, wait!" He shouted and waved his arms, but the snowspeeder lifted off and headed to battle.

He cursed to himself. _Well, what can I do now? Fight on foot?_ He looked around, noticed a few blaster rifles left and a saddled Tauntaun. "..How convenient."

A minute later, with one A-280 blaster rifle strapped on his back, Dax Urland rode off on the Tauntaun. After a short pause to check directions, he headed east, where one crewmember still in the base told him the majority of combat was taking place.

A blaster bolt hit the side of the Tauntaun once the trenches became visible. He looked in the direction that the bolt came from, and noticed more. He abandoned the Tauntaun, for fear of it being shot out from under him. A short run put him in the trench, in time to hear a short briefing.

The commanding officer looked over the troops in the trench, noting a few that weren't there a minute before. "Alright, men, this is it. The Empire has found Echo Base, and we have to evacuate immediately. You already know that Rogue Squadron is splitting up in two, to both defend the transports and keep the Imperials away from the shield generator. However, the snowspeeders won't be able to pull it off on their own. When the infantry start their attack, we'll be here to push them back. So everyone ready your weapons and take up defensive positions."

Some soldiers began exiting the trenches and boarding unmanned turrets. Dax stared out into the empty field. Wait..it wasn't empty. Imperial snowtroopers were hardly visible, holding E-11 blaster rifles. Within seconds, they closed the distance and began firing. The Rebels had the advantage due to their trenches, enough to push the first wave back.

The second wave wasn't as easy. The troopers began the second wave with a pair of AT-ST walkers. Oddly enough, floating black probe droids randomly littered the battlefield too. While the droids were easy to destroy with just one or two shots, the AT-STs would take much more.

When it looked as though the walkers would defeat the entrenched forces, though, four snowspeeders zoomed above the snow, blasting the AT-STs' "heads" and bringing them down quickly.

Things began looking bad for the Alliance when a single AT-AT attacked. The speeders flocked around it, blasting it with their laser cannons. They had no effect at all. The lack of an Imperial infantry assault allowed Dax and his allies to watch the speeders' attack.

Dax suddenly saw a black cable launch from the back of one speeder. He leaned over to another soldier, whispering, "What is that?"

The other soldier stared at the speeder in question. "The snowspeeders have tow cables attached to the back. The copilot operates it. I have no idea what they're doing with it, though."

The question was answered immediately: the speeder passed around the AT-AT's legs three times and detached the cable. The AT-AT tripped and fell forward. A few more blasts from one snowspeeder destroyed it. More AT-ATs came into view. They were able to make it close enough to the trenches to begin firing. Turrets exploded, soldiers flew through the air, and scorched snow fell over the others. Unfortunately, at this point, Dax chickened out. It seemed like the right thing to do, everyone else was doing it. As he ran back to Echo Base, he remembered his duty to the Alliance, and made certain he would do something to protect the base from the Empire before he left.

Dax found his X-wing exactly where he had landed it. His R2 unit was still in it, beeping wildly once it spotted him. "Hey, F3, how're you doing?" R2-F3 let out a series of beeps. "That's great. We'll have to get out of here soon."

As he started to board his X-wing, he heard a sound behind him. He looked behind him and saw a pair of soldiers, one male, one female. The male spoke first. "Excuse us, could you direct us to the next transport? We're hoping to get out of the base alive."

Dax considered his options for a second, before he hopped off his ship. "Sure, I'll help. The next transport should be.." He looked towards the opening of the hangar and saw snowtroopers. "..the way they're not coming from. Get down!" He pulled out his A-280 and exchanged shots with the snowtroopers. A number of shots to their heads soon left the hangar quiet again.

The female dashed to the front and closed the large blast doors. Dax stared as they shut, preventing his own escape. "What the hell are you doing?"

She turned around, looked at him timidly. "If we leave it open, your fighter might be destroyed before you can leave." Dax hadn't considered that. He could re-open it later, anyway. "Let's go."

F3 started beeping in protest. "Don't worry, F3, I'm just going to help these two to their transport, then I'll be back for you."


	2. Battle of Hoth, Part II

**II: Escape from Hoth**

Another shot fired, another random snowtrooper downed. Dax's new friend, Nal Krotan, wondered how so many had managed to pour into the base in such a short time. He glanced around to find any more, saw his sister, Jan, blast one in the face.

More bolts came from the direction of Jan's kill. A trio of troopers stepped forward, E-11 blaster rifles ready, as a fourth attempted to set up an E-web cannon behind them. A flurry of bolts came from Dax and Jan, cutting short the lives of the snowtroopers.

Nal quickly moved towards his partners. "Should we go that way?"

Jan shook her head. "That's not the right way. I know the way to the hangar with our transport. Follow me." She took off, almost leaving Dax and Nal behind.

They traveled through the icy hallways of Echo Base. Just meters away from the transport's hangar, they nearly ran right into another squad of snowtroopers. Nal quickly activated and tossed a thermal detonator. The explosion sent the Imperials sprawling through the air.

One of their rifles hit Jan in the face. The other two looked at her: Dax didn't know what to expect, but Nal did. Her eyes widened slightly, her mouth wavered, and a small tear began forming in her left eye. Nal walked over and tried to calm her down, but it didn't look like it would do any good; suddenly Dax walked over, just looked her in the eyes. He had an almost magical effect on her: she immediately calmed down and stared up at him. There was something about her expression that would have made him fall unconscious if he didn't turn away. His face burned red as he attempted to establish leadership. "W-we, uh, we have to get going soon, more troopers could be on their way."

The other two nodded and followed him the short way to the transport. They found more Rebels on the loading ramp, quickly filling the transport. Jan turned to Dax, put on an expression she hoped he would find cute, and asked innocently, "Dax..would you mind joining us on the transport?"

Dax looked surprised: he was about to agree when he remembered he still had his own starfighter. And F3..he couldn't leave them behind. "I..I'm sorry, Jan, I can't leave my ship or F3 behind. I'm sure you.."

She wouldn't hear it. "Dax, please, I want you to stay in the transport with me." She made no effort to hide anything from him. She wanted to be with him, through all the danger they would no doubt face on the way off the planet.

The hangar shook, and a path opposite the one they just arrived from collapsed. The man standing in front of the transport received a transmission. "Transport, this is Solo. Better take off -- I can't get to you. I'll get the princess out on the Falcon."

"Understood, sir." He shut off the COM link. "Alright, everyone get on the transport now! We have to leave soon or the Empire'll disassemble it and shove the pieces right up our asses!"

Another transmission came. Everyone received it; it was urgent. "Main generators are disabled. All blast doors no longer function." Dax's heart sank. He remembered Jan closed the door in Bay 7. Jan, however, seemed almost delighted.

Nal turned to the transport. "Hey, pilot! What bay doors are closed?"

The pilot checked something on his wrist-communicator. "Uh...lessee..yeah, we've got Bays 3, 5 and 9 closed." All three were shocked. Dax glanced at Jan, then Nal. _Why the hell isn't Bay 7's door closed? Who opened it?_ "Well, Jan, I guess I'll still be able to get my ship out of here. Don't worry- X-wings are fast, I'll escort the transport." The pilot overheard, shouted "Thanks!" as he boarded the transport. "Last call! Get in _NOW!_"

Dax dashed back the way he came, waving goodbye to his new friends.


	3. Battle of Hoth, Part III

**III: Through the Asteroids**

The effects of the main generator going down put the transport in much more danger than the previous ones. The ion cannon needed power that it couldn't get from a disabled generator, which meant the transport and its escorts had to face a fully powered Star Destroyer and its flights of TIEs. For the escort role, Dax was temporarily placed in the famed Rogue Squadron, referred to as "Rogue 13" by the transport and the 'true' Rogues, Rogue 4 and Rogue 7.

Rogue 4 spotted a wave of TIES launching from the Star Destroyer. "Rogues 7 and 13, we've got TIEs coming from starboard hangar bay. Take them out, but don't get to close to the Destroyer." Lights briefly shined near his targeting computer as they vocally acknowledged his order. 7 flew in front of him, quickly taking the lead as Dax followed him into battle. Firing two cannons at a time, three quick bursts eliminated the TIE the targeting computer designated Alpha 1. Dax, firing each cannon separately, swept his line of fire over the others, taking out Alpha 2 and 3.

"Good shot, Rogues. Return to formation." The lights winked on, when suddenly the transport took some laser fire to the port side. "Cancel that, Rogues. More hostiles at 8 o'clock." The lights winked again. 7 and 13 attacked the sudden TIE Interceptors from 12 o'clock, while 4 flew over the top of the transport and attacked from their front. The Interceptors were armored even lighter than the Fighters: all of them fell to the transport's autocannons.

"Remind me to never disrespect auto turrets again," the transport pilot joked. "Uh-oh, bombers incoming. Take them out!" A light suddenly flashed in front of them. When they looked ahead of them again, the bombers had disappeared. "C-cloaking?!"

Rogue 4 smirked. "No. We're entering the asteroid belt. One must have smashed them. Rogues, try to avoid them." He did a barrel roll to the right to avoid an asteroid as the others acknowledged.

The transport pilot warned them of the coming danger. "TIEs are coming out of all the Star Destroyer's hangars! Can you handle them?"

Rogue 7 was about to reply cockily when he looked over the incoming fighters. There had to be at least one hundred and fifty fighters and bombers. He couldn't let their numbers get to him, though; the Rebels were usually outnumbered, but even though never by this wide a margin, there were more lives than his own at stake. "Alright…Time to rock and roll."

Dax noticed a rather bunched-up group of TIEs; he quickly locked onto one in the center. Gamma 8. He fired a pair of proton torpedoes at the TIE. The first torpedo impacted with and demolished the center cockpit, sending the hexagonal wings spinning into nearby TIEs, which in turn sent them spinning into their wingmates. Dax grinned widely. "Do I get a medal for that?"

Laser bolts flurried at him. His shields dropped to less than half before he could get out of the hostiles' line of fire. He quickly flew behind an asteroid to protect himself from the lasers, did a spin to get away from it and then point directly at it, and began blasting it, just enough to get it moving towards the Star Destroyer. If he was lucky, it might take a fighter or two by surprise.

Rogue 7 swept his line of fire over the biggest group of TIEs, firing both his laser cannons and torpedoes. They returned fire; he wasn't quick enough to get out of the way. His shields failed, his astromech was damaged, and one laser cannon was destroyed. "Argh!! I've taken too much damage, I'm pulling out! Good luck!" Luckily, the damage didn't get in the way of the S-foils, and he was able to safely jump to hyperspace.

The Rebel group went farther into the asteroid field. More TIEs were crashing into asteroids; at least a third of them had been destroyed. The remaining ones were becoming more aggressive. They were intent on destroying the transport. Dax's shields recharged; he flew out from behind an asteroid and surprised a small group of TIEs. More hostiles responded, quickly taking even more out of his shields and damaging his top left wing. He hid behind more asteroids. The fighters tried to follow him, but most impacted with the asteroids. Rogue 4 blasted the ones who survived from below.

Rogue 4 spotted another TIE Bomber going over an asteroid. He gave chase, blasted everything he could out of it. A group of five interceptors suddenly appeared behind him and opened fire. Their laser blasts ripped through Rogue 4, crippling his fighter and sending what was left spiraling into the asteroid. Dax was on his own now.

TIE Interceptors swarmed around the transport. The autocannons were shredding them, but more kept coming. Dax turned back to the transport and helped defend against them. A few proton torpedoes and a lot of laser blasts, and within three minutes, the last of the interceptors were destroyed. The pilot of the transport chimed in. "We're nearing the end of the asteroid belt; we should be able to jump to hyperspace soon." Dax nodded, happy that the battle would soon be over.

Escape was not to be the fate of the transport. The Star Destroyer that had launched the TIEs was right on top of it. Its turbolaser batteries fired bolt after bolt on the transport. Its shields eventually gave way to the relentless pounding, and the laser bolts began tearing into the hull of the vessel. One laser tore through and hit an ammo cache, causing a massive explosion that ripped off the rear end. Eventually the entire vessel exploded. Dax stared in horror; he didn't see any escape pods. Jan, Nal, and countless other Rebel personnel just lost their lives.

The asteroids let up. Dax cut power to his engines. If the Imperials wanted one final kill, they could have it. The oddest thing happened, however: the TIEs turned back into the asteroid field. Dax checked his targeting computer. It took him a while to get through all the hostile targets, but he eventually found a friendly. The computer registered it as a YT-2400 Corellian Transport, named _Outrider_. He sighed. Whoever the hell was piloting that thing was crazy. F3 beeped. "Uh… yeah, that's where the transports are going, right? All right, set a course. Let's go." He closed the S-foil wings and allowed F3 to pilot his X-wing into hyperspace.


	4. Anoat, Part I

**IV: Retrieve the Falcon**

It took a while, but Dax and R2-F3 were finally able to make it to the edge of the galaxy, where the remainder of the Rebel fleet was hiding. Using the targeting computer to locate the Nebulon-B Frigate _Vulpine_, he flew into its hangar and landed. He took the chance to stretch his legs while a pair of engineers helped F3 out of their X-wing, before both headed towards the bridge to receive new orders.

The automatic door slid open only after Dax showed his identification. He and F3 quickly stepped through, allowing it to close behind them. They spotted the captain of the vessel; Dax snapped off a quick salute and F3 emitted a short series of beeps. The captain returned his salute. "At ease, soldier." He leaned over a crewmate's shoulder and examined the data on his terminal. He straightened, sighed, and then glanced to Dax again. "Alright… let me know what happened."

Dax cleared his throat. "Sir, at 1138 hours, we engaged the Empire two-hundred meters east of Echo Base. They outnumbered us severely. A few transports were destroyed; from F3's data gathered before I left, most of the destroyed ones were still in the process of taking off when they were destroyed." He paused, gulped, and continued. "The final transport was destroyed before it could clear the asteroid belt surrounding the planet and jump to hyperspace, sir."

The captain nodded. "And what about fighter escorts? I don't recall any other X-wings landing in the _Vulpine_."

"Sir, I was only with Rogues 4 and 7. Rogue 7 was severely damaged and fled the area. Rogue 4 was KIA."

"So we've got one pilot who needs a new X-wing and one family who needs an explanation. Thank you for the info, soldier." He turned back towards the front, staring out into the space ahead.

Dax stepped behind him. "Captain Hunter, sir, if there are any missions I'm needed in…"

Hunter turned back to him. "Have you had any time to rest since the evacuation of Hoth?"

"Well, apart from a few hours in hyperspace, none."

"Well, get some. Go to your bunk, change your gear. You're not on a frozen wasteland anymore." He suppressed a smile as Dax finally remembered he was still in his snow gear. "Get something to eat at the mess hall, then see me again. I think I have a mission or two in line for you."

Dax was still finishing a glass of blue milk when he headed back for the bridge. It had been the third glass he drank in 8 minutes. He showed his ID to the console near the door again, and stepped through when it slid open. He quickly took another gulp, and then saluted Captain Hunter. His salute was returned. "Well, Corporal Urland, I'm rather busy right now." He motioned to another soldier on the bridge. "Don't worry, Sergeant Major Volk will fill you in on other recent events."

Volk nodded. He started towards the door. "Follow me, Corporal."

Dax saluted. "Yes, sir."

The door closed behind them. Hunter sighed. "I sure hope he'll be up for it."

Volk looked over a datapad, filled with data on the Alliance's recent moves, victories, and losses. "Alright, Corporal, I think the first thing you should know is that we've lost contact with both General Solo and Commander Skywalker. Both the _Millennium Falcon_ and Skywalker's X-wing disappeared during the battle. Worse is, Solo took Princess Leia Organa with him."

Dax snapped to attention. "I remember now! A path collapsed near the transport I was escorting. Seconds after they received a transmission from General Solo; he said he couldn't get the princess to it." He remembered the fate of the transport. _It's a good thing he didn't, then._

"The captain was planning on sending you to try and find information on where Solo and Skywalker went. Something could happen to them, and if we don't know where they are, we won't be able to help in any way." Volk handed the datapad to him. "All we know is the direction the two ships took off in. The last we saw of either of them, the _Falcon_ was heading towards the Anoat system, while Skywalker's X-wing seemed to be going for either the Elrood or Kathol sectors."

Dax studied the data. "Which should I head for first?"

"Well, if you want to follow my suggestion, I'd try to find the _Falcon_ first. I heard Solo was having trouble with some of its systems; that would explain why they took a path that would put it close to more planets."

Dax nodded. "I'll search for General Solo first, then. …Do you want the datapad back, sir?" Volk wouldn't take it back; Dax would probably need it while searching.

He re-entered the hangar. F3 was circling his X-wing. A pair of technicians had given up on catching him minutes before Dax arrived. "F3, calm down. We have to head to the Anoat system." F3 stopped and turned to him, beeping in confusion. The techs took the advantage and grabbed him. F3 beeped wildly. "I said calm down, F3! We need to get going!"

Both techs helped F3 into the external socket. Dax climbed into the cockpit and closed the canopy. One tech tried to get his attention. "Excuse me, sir, where are you going?"

"I'm heading back to Hoth. I have to find the _Millennium Falcon_ and her crew." He returned the thumbs-up the tech gave him. "Alright, F3, let's roll." They slowly maneuvered out of the hangar, then fed power to the engines to distance themselves from the fleet. F3 released a series of beeps. "Set a course for the Anoat system, F3. The _Falcon_ was headed that way last time anyone knew where it was." F3 beeped once more, then took control of the craft as it sped off into hyperspace back the way they came hours earlier.


	5. Anoat, Part II

**V: Anoat Again**

Dax exited hyperspace a number of parsecs away from where he had jumped after the battle had ended. It appeared that the Imperials were done in this sector, and with good reason: any Rebel personnel who weren't killed or captured would have escaped hours ago.

F3 beeped and showed Dax something on the targeting computer. Apparently, the Imperials _weren't_ done here, yet. A pair of TIE Fighters and a damaged TIE Bomber was still in the area. Dax checked his scopes, found them at 11 o'clock. He spun, brought his line of fire on them and blasted them. It took very few laser blasts to destroy the TIEs. "Let's hope those were the only ones. F3, we're going to search Anoat first."

F3 started scanning the sector as they approached Anoat. Nothing Imperial appeared on the sensors, but both knew there were other dangers on the planet's surface. F3 beeped worriedly. "I know, I want to stay off Anoat as much as you do, but if we do we'll never know if the _Millennium Falcon_ is hiding down there. Continue scanning while we make reentry."

Dax looked around. It took him a while to find a decent place to land. There was only one way to go from where he had landed, and all he could really do was follow a thin walkway. It didn't look like he would find any place where the _Falcon_ could have landed unless he did a full search of the planet. He didn't have time to do that.

He sighed as he considered his options. "This place is so full of sludge an astromech droid couldn't go more than twenty meters." He addressed the communicator on his left wrist. "Has the scan finished yet?" F3 beeped an affirmative: the scanned areas showed no human life signs, apart from Dax's. Dax sighed again. "Alright, I guess I'll..." He heard something move in the sludge. "…Hold on, I heard something. I'm going to try and find out what it was." He admitted to himself he was almost too afraid to find out; he had never been on Anoat before and didn't know what to expect.

A tentacle, colored nearly the same as the sludge, shot out and wrapped itself around Dax's ankle. It attempted to retreat back into the sludge, which would take him with it. Dax tripped. He managed to grab the other edge of the walkway with his left hand. He knew he couldn't hold on for long, though. With his right hand, he drew his DL-44 blaster and fired a number of bolts into the sludge. He heard a hellish scream as the tentacle released his ankle. He panted, stood up on the walkway and holstered his blaster. He readdressed F3 through his communicator. "I f-found out what it was…" He coughed, attempted to calm himself. "It was a dianoga, and it was hungry. I'm getting the hell out of here before I find any more." He didn't wait for F3 to respond before he started off back to his X-wing.

Shortly after he left Anoat's orbit, Volk contacted him again. "Corporal, where are you?"

Dax seemed surprised. "I just left Anoat, sir, why? Did you get any more info?"

"Did we ever—the _Falcon_ found _us_! Commander Skywalker and his astromech droid were in the ship, too. There's something odd, though. Someone else was piloting the _Falcon_, one Lando Calrissian. Solo wasn't onboard."

"Well, do you know where the general is, sir?"

"We believe Boba Fett has him. Leia is in the process of hiring a mercenary to find out where Fett went. In the meantime, we need you to head to Bespin. We need you to perform air strikes on Imperial installations in and around Cloud City."

"Roger that, sir, but there's one problem. I don't know where Bespin is."

"You said you're in the Anoat system? You're practically right next door to it. Your astromech should have GPS data on how to find Cloud City once you get to the planet. Be careful."

"Roger that, sir. Corporal Urland over and out." He closed the link. "Alright, F3, calculate the distance from here to Bespin. I want to know if we need to use lightspeed to get there in time."


	6. Bespin

**VI: The Battle Among the Clouds**

"Bespin's a lot closer than I had expected." It had taken Dax and F3 less than an hour to make the trip to the gas giant. "Get me the coordinates for Cloud City." F3 immediately complied, showing the coordinates on the targeting computer.

A green laser suddenly impacted with his right wing. He looked up and barely saw a pair of TIE Interceptors closing in. He flipped the switch to open the S-foils, turned and tried to line up a shot. The Interceptors were too fast; they nailed a few more solid hits and passed right by him before he had the chance to fire. Their speed worked to his advantage, as he was able to turn and target them before they could. He blasted the one on the left into scrap metal, and turned on the second one to watch it flee behind a small asteroid. He decided it wasn't worth it to give chase, and continued to Cloud City.

As he re-entered, F3 began feeding GPS data to the targeting computer, notifying Dax of where both allied and hostile installations, defenses and the like were. Volk contacted him again and sent extra data dealing with specific targets. Dax would have to first take out anti-aircraft turrets on a platform just outside the city.

Dax came up to the platform, and immediately came under fire from the turrets. Only two blasts had hit, but the X-wing already took moderate damage from them. He flew under the platforms, where the turrets couldn't hit. "Alright, we'll have to do something about that damage." He rerouted power from the engines to the shields and flew to the half of the platform under Rebel control. He came back above the platform, turned 180 degrees. He slowed and used part of one structure to keep himself hidden from one of the turrets. It was looking almost entirely the wrong way when he came out from behind the structure; 14 laser blasts put it out of commission.

A second turret had noticed him. Dax launched a pair of proton torpedoes and barrel rolled to the right. He started the roll too early; only one torpedo hit. 8 lasers downed the second turret. It managed to nail one solid shot to the tip of the X-wing's nose. F3 beeped wildly: the targeting computer was offline. "Oh, hell…can you repair it?" F3 confirmed. He would need 45 seconds to repair the computer. "Okay. I'll see if I can take out the other turrets without the computer."

Dax flew as fast as his damaged fighter would go; the other two turrets wouldn't let up anytime soon. He hid behind the structure again, slowed as he turned, and brought the third turret into his line of fire. He fired another pair of proton torpedoes. They severely damaged the turret, but it was still functioning. The remaining turrets turned and fired at him again, though 3 more lasers from Dax blew the third turret to oblivion. Dax sped up again, turned and fired 5 shots into the last turret, flew past it, and dropped down under the platform again. He continued his circle, going back up above the platform again and hitting the turret 7 more times in the back.

F3 beeped: he had repaired the targeting computer, and he was ready to tell the Rebel Y-wings that they could fly to Cloud City. Dax established a COM link with Volk. "Sergeant Major, sir, I destroyed the Imperial turrets."

"Good. I'm updating your objectives now. Good luck, over and out." The computer showed the tactical data F3 had received earlier, though there was a major difference, in that the map had focused on Cloud City. Dax immediately noticed a large concentration of Imperial troops in the center of the combat area. Y-wings appeared from the southwest; they had flown through the hole Dax punched in the Empire's anti-aircraft defense ring.

The Y-wings dropped bombs into the midst of the stormtroopers. The explosions sent a shockwave of energy through the ranks, sending most spiraling through the air, and some knocked over. When their movement ceased, a number of the troopers managed to bring themselves back to their feet. They returned fire when Rebel soldiers began smothering their position with blaster bolts, scattering and hiding behind any structure or piece of terrain they could. An officer raised a mortar launcher, angled it towards the Rebels and fired. His aim was spot-on; 6 Rebels were thrown through the air by the explosion. Not one of them stood back up.

The targeting computer showed a row of Imperial armored vehicles beginning to surround the city. Y-wings began fanning out to attack different segments of the circle. Dax spotted an area that had few allies attacking and began turning towards it. When F3 realized where he was going, he alerted Dax to the heavier starships unloading the vehicles. Dax nearly lost control of the X-wing, then quickly turned to support a pair of Y-wings attacking part of the convoy.

A familiar roar joined the hum of the Rebel fighters' engines. One Y-wing alerted his wingmate and Dax, "Gray Two here, they're sending TIEs." He struggled to find Dax's callsign, but when he realized he was fruitless, his astromech showed him the name. "Corporal Urland, is it? Get those fighters. Our copilots can take care of any Interceptors, and if we need to fight Bombers, we have plenty of time."

"Roger, Gray Two." He turned to face the TIEs and opened fire, destroying one pair before they could shoot him. He spotted a trio of Interceptors going for the Y-wings, and at the same time he saw the swiveling turrets atop the Y-wings chew through the attackers. _That couldn't have been more than 30 rounds._ He examined the area and found where TIEs were launching. "Gray Two, I found where the TIEs are coming from."

"Copy that, Corporal. Cover us on our way in and we'll make short work of it." They fell in formation behind Dax, dodging laser fire from TIEs and some deployed turrets. "We're coming into range. Commence bombing run." They dropped bombs on the structure. Its roof almost immediately gave way, allowing most of the bombs to go inside. TIEs and personnel inside were crushed by the debris or blasted by the bombs. The explosions ripped through the supports. What was left of the building crushed the remaining TIEs and their pilots. "Structure destroyed."

The Imperial convoy followed suit through the bombardment of the rest of Gray Squadron. "Okay, Gray Squadron, form up and follow me. We're going to destroy the Imperial transports."

A single X-wing appeared, shooting down a TIE Interceptor Dax didn't notice behind him. "Rogue Three here. I heard there's a mess needing to be cleaned up." He smirked when he realized who was in the other X-wing. "Dax, I thought you were one of us."

Dax chuckled. "Yeah, me too." He addressed Gray Squadron. "What's the current situation, Gray Leader?"

"A pair of transports are all that's left of the Imperial forces near Cloud City. We're bombing all we can out of them, but I don't know if it'll be enough."

Rogue Three reassured them. "Don't worry, I've got a full load of proton torpedoes. I'm sure Dax here does too. We'll finish off what you can't." He and Dax pulled up behind the flight of Y-wings and watched as their bombs pounded into the transports. The first gave in and exploded. The second suffered severe external damage from the bombs. F3 soon found out Gray Leader's prediction was right: the number of bombs in the air at once was decreasing too soon. Dax and Rogue Three would have to kill this one.

Gray Six realized this, too. "We're running out of ordnance; I don't think this thing's going to blow before we run dry." Within two seconds the bombs stopped dropping. "You'll have to take this one, Rogues."

Rogue Three smirked again. _So he thought Dax was one of us, too._ "Okay, Dax, follow me in and launch every torpedo you have. The transport, while still functional, took very heavy damage from the proton bombs. The last of Dax's torpedoes tore through the hull and detonated on the inside, bringing it down. "Yeah! That did it!"

Rogue Three nodded. "Congratulations, Dax. Let me think… that would mean you've killed two transports on each side now, wouldn't it?"

The question took Dax by surprise. He hadn't expected one of the Rogues to know about his earlier kill at Orion IV or the other transport he failed to protect alongside Rogue Flight when they were ambushed in the Ison Corridor. "...H-how do you know about...?"

"The other battles you've flown in? You have a record on-board the _Redemption_. It mentioned a downed transport you were escorting from Yavin and another Imperial transport you destroyed near Orion IV. Combine that with your most recent kill, and the other transport outside Hoth..." Dax was stunned. There was no way Rogue Squadron would have known he was the one defending that specific transport so quickly. "You're becoming quite famous through the Rebellion, Dax. I bet you'll be just as surprised as I was with how quickly the story of that transport at Hoth has been passed around. Nearly half of the fleet knows your name now."

Dax shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "Just who are you, anyway? And how do so many people know about me all of a sudden?"

"I'm Wedge Antilles of Rogue Squadron. Just about everyone in the squad knows you too. We're considering letting you join someday."

A transmission for Dax came, which would have interrupted Dax's response if he could think of anything to say. "Sergeant Volk to Corporal Urland, do you copy? I know you've been through a lot since the battle on Hoth, but we need you for one more mission. Don't worry, you can have a long rest afterwards."

F3 set a course for the _Vulpine_ again. Dax, making sure F3 would wake him when they exited hyperspace, took the chance to get a short bit of rest before his fourth mission in a row.


	7. Blue Milk Run

**VII: Rodian Run**

Dax awoke and found himself still in his X-wing. "Huh… hey, F3? Where are we now?"

F3 beeped. "W-what?! We're already on our mission? Why didn't you wake me?"

F3 beeped angrily, a sarcasm-filled response Dax was too preoccupied to listen to. "So where are we going… a frigate called the _Blue Milk Run_? What the hell kind of a name is that? … Well, can you show me the objectives?"

A recording began playing on the console; Captain Hunter, rather than take away any time Dax would have for sleep, decided to let F3 record his mission objectives. "Corporal Urland, I assume by the time you are watching this, you will be just entering Bothan space." F3 beeped sarcastically again; they were actually halfway through Bothan space. "Your assignment is to infiltrate the Imperial freighter _Blue Milk Run_ and retrieve data from its computer core. Intelligence gathered suggests its short-range sensors are offline, so your astromech should be able to dock with the freighter, let you in and quickly escape before its sensors turn back on. The freighter is in orbit of Rodia. For this mission, we've given you access to a special blaster."

The recording changed to schematics of the blaster Dax noticed in his holster. "It's a standard DH-17 pistol, as you might have been able to anticipate, due to the importance of this info. This info is heavily guarded, however, so we've made some modifications. Its bolts are silenced. From too far away, hostiles won't be able to hear you fire."

A map of the _Blue Milk Run_ replaced the pistol schematics. "As with all standard Nebulon-B Frigates, there will be two potential infiltration points." As he pointed them out, the map zoomed in on each. "The first is the hangar bay, and the second is the airlock along the hull. If you'd like my advice, I would use the airlock for infiltration, and exfiltrate from the hangar." The map dissected the frigate and showed the floors in the main component. "As you can see, there are three floors. Infiltrating through the hangar will bring you to the middle floor. The lower floor has the computer core."

The dissected map showed info on the rooms in the upper floor. "The floor above houses most of the troops. I suggest you avoid that floor unless if you absolutely have to, but if you pull this off without a hitch, I'm certain you won't need to." Hunter's face finally reappeared. "Stealth will be your primary asset and your greatest weapon. Avoid being spotted on the way to the core, and only begin the download when you are absolute certain a squad of stormtroopers won't stumble upon you while you do so. Once you have the data, inform your astromech droid to extract you, then return to the _Vulpine_. Good luck."

Within minutes, the _Blue Milk Run_ came in sight. F3 beeped sarcastically again. "Hey, don't blame me. My body never seems to think any amount of sleep is enough. Besides, I've been fighting Imperials almost non-stop within 8 minutes of waking up this morning." F3 reminded him he didn't wake up until nearly afternoon.

The operation seemed to have gone off without a hitch so far: F3 had quietly maneuvered the ship onto the airlock. Dax took less than a minute to get out of the X-wing and into the frigate. F3 then moved out of what was expected to be the radius of the ship's short-range sensors if they were to be repaired while Dax was still inside. Dax hid behind a corner, holding his DH-17 with both hands, and peeked around the corner. He saw a stormtrooper with his back turned on the hallway. _First normal one I've seen up-close and personal today._ He checked the other end of the hallway to make sure another trooper wouldn't notice him, then quietly crept up to within two feet behind the trooper.

He instantly rose his pistol, growled "Freeze!" The trooper gasped, raised both hands. "Where can I get to the lower floor from here?"

"Uh… you can, uh, use th-the elevator on t-this floor to go down…why, w-what do you want down there?"

"This frigate's computer core has some valuable information. I want it." Taking a hostage would have slowed him down too much, and he ran too big a risk of the soldier warning others of his presence. He pulled the trigger, downing the trooper. He instinctively reached for the E-11 rifle, when he remembered Hunter had said his greatest weapon was stealth. Even if the sound of the rifle would be familiar to the other troopers, if they heard one fire they would know they had company. "…Huh. I should've asked him where the elevator is."

Dax continued down the hallway, but avoided opening the door. He didn't know if anyone would be looking when he opened it. He glanced to his sides; saw a trooper turning towards him to the right. He jumped back and hid himself in a small alcove. Peeking past the corner, he saw the trooper walk by the door, open it, peer into the room ahead. Another trooper appeared on the other side of the door. "Anything near the elevator?"

"No, as far as I know the entire ship's clean."

"I'm not so sure about that. We lost contact with the guard near the airlock." Dax cursed himself when he suddenly realized he forgot to hide the body. _Shit, if they find it—_"You go ahead and search for him, see what's taking him so long. I'll keep an eye out here." Dax relaxed a bit. _Good. If it's just one I can shut him up easily._ He hid back in the alcove again, watched the trooper walk the way Dax had come from a minute before. When the trooper had passed the door, Dax followed silently.

The trooper almost immediately noticed the body. Before he could do anything about it, he heard Dax train his pistol on the back of his head. "I hear you're guarding the elevator. Does it go to the lower floor?"

"Yes, it goes to all the floors."

"Good. I'll be needing downstairs shortly." He pulled the trigger again, downing the second trooper. Before the trooper's body fell, Dax grabbed it and pulled it to a dark area. "No one'll find you guys here, I hope." He went back for the first body and dragged it to near the other. He went through the door a second time. Once again, he stopped at the door, looked both left and right. _Nothing to the left… big-time prize to the right. Here I come, elevator._

He rode down the elevator… or rather, that's what he wanted the troopers below to think. Elevators typically made noise when in use, and for all he knew there could be set times for the elevator to be used by certain crewmembers. He was barely able to peek past the top of the elevator, saw a trio of troopers surrounding it. "Damn, I think he's on to us."

"Quiet down! If he… damn it." They started speaking lowly, too low for Dax to hear. _What did he mean, 'on to us'? Are they… expecting me?_ He looked around and spotted a creative alternative.

His wrist communicator quietly beeped. "Corporal, we've managed to hack into the _Blue Milk Run_'s security systems. We've turned the cameras to our side. They won't alert the barracks to your presence, and we can use them to monitor your progress."

"Affirmative, sir." Dax noticed something odd with the Captain's expression. "Is something wrong, sir?"

"It's just that...we can't see you! Where did you get to?"

"Oh, I overheard some stormtroopers talking. Believe it or not, I think they were expecting me. Not the usual suspicion from an elevator being used when it's not supposed to be, either. I'm pretty sure one of them specifically mentioned me to his buddies."

"Well, as long as you stay hidden…but you're almost _too_ hidden. Where are you?"

"I decided to see if I could sneak through a ventilation duct. Hold on…ah, yes. I can make it to the computer core from here. I'll have the data out of here in no time. Corporal Urland, over and out." He opened the cover to this end of the duct. Spotting no hostiles in the room, he decided to take things slow: first, he moved back about one foot. He then placed the cover on the bottom of the duct. He crawled over it, pushed it back with his feet once he was over it, rolled onto his back, pulled out and dropped. He drew his pistol, examining the area. He couldn't see any troopers. Quietly approaching the console, he began searching for the data. Nothing came up.

Before he could call the Captain, he heard someone shout, "Freeze!" His cover was blown. He could almost feel the Imperial blasters aiming at his head. He slowly raised his hands, and just as slowly began turning towards the stormtroopers. "Well now, I guess you caught me. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say I'd really not like to spill any blood here. It just so turns out, what I was looking for isn't here, so perhaps if you just let me leave, I won't spill the beans on where you are. What do you say?" He was almost certain one of the troopers would have spit mockingly if not for their skull-like helmets. Failing that, he decided to try some simple trickery, and if that worked, he could probably down these three and begin the data transfer.

He attempted to look convincing as he pretended someone was behind them. "Hey…who's that behind you? Oh my God, it's Rogue Squadron!"

"Yeah, right. There's only one T-65 in this system, kid, and we know it's yours."

_Strike two._ "You sure we can't talk this out peaceful—" Before he finished his sentence, he crouched, fired a pair of blasts at the left trooper. When that one fell, he rolled away from the terminal, regained his balance and fired at the middle one. The blasts almost seemed faster than they should have been; both standing troopers and the one he had wounded fired at him. They were too fast for him to dodge. Bolts pounded his front. _No…this can't be the end...!_ The shots ceased. He felt pain all over his body. _…It… can't be the end… can it?_ He dropped the pistol, fell over backwards.


	8. Corellia

**VIII: Veteran from Naboo**

To keep a decent atmosphere in the mid-sized warehouse, known as _Hangar 18_, its employees often played popular music. On the inside, while the music blared, anywhere between 2 and 12 mechanics would work on any vessel brought into their warehouse. They could do basically anything to whatever could fit in the warehouse: swiveling turret on a land speeder, extended torpedo magazines in an A-wing, just about anything anyone could ever want for their vehicles.

The owner of the warehouse was a human fighter pilot, named Kol Kotha. In truth, that wasn't _his_ name; it had originally belonged to a skilled Gran pilot who flew along Bravo Flight near 30 years ago during a trade dispute on Naboo. He died inconspicuously, however; not many people remembered his name by the time the Clone Wars had ended. No way in Hell anyone would remember him 3 years after the Battle of Yavin.

Kol had been sitting in his office, taking a short nap when a coworker walked in. "Excuse me, sir, there's a slight problem."

Kol yawned, took his legs off his desk and stared at the technician for a short while. "…What kinda problem?"

The technician led him out to the hangar. There were 4 more people than there should have been, and they were wearing white. _Imperials. What do they want?_ Kol walked right up to them. "Well hello there, welcome to Hangar 18. I'm Kol Kotha, the manager of this hangar. What do you need? Repairs? Upgrade? We could put a hyperdrive on a TIE Fighter, if anyone outside the Empire owned one."

The stormtroopers stared at him for a second. _I hate looking into those helmets' eyes._ "We've been sent by order of Moff Nakov to investigate reports of stolen merchandise in this hangar."

Kol narrowed his eyes. "What are in those reports, can I see them?"

One trooper, wearing an orange pauldron over his right shoulder, seemed distracted for a bit as he checked his suit's record for the reports. "Stolen starfighter ordnance. Stolen hyperdrive systems. Stolen laser cannons. Stolen torpedo magazines. You've kept the local police force quite busy, I must say. So many citizens with stolen merchandise, and every time they're asked where they got it, they all point back here."

One tech spoke up. "What're you going to do about that?"

The lead trooper moved his arm to prevent the left trooper from attacking the tech. "We're going to have to shut this warehouse down. You have one day to move out, after which anyone still here will be arrested."

Kol took a few steps away, his hands in his pockets as he shook his head slowly. "Well, well…" He glanced to his left and watched a tech, concealed from the troopers' view, pull out a rifle. Trying to keep their attention away from the tech, he turned around quickly. "You're sure you're not mistaking us for Jaal'Dan Supply? They're just down the road to the east; more than once someone bought faulty merchandise from them and tried to return it to us."

"We're 100 certain the stolen merchandise came from your shop. Now get out of here before I blast you."

Kol smirked. "On the contrary… _you're_ the ones who're 'bout to be blasted." He quickly raised his right arm, two fingers extended, and pointed at the troopers. They recognized threats when they heard them; they were less than a second away from blowing Kol into oblivion before the tech's shots distracted and subsequently silenced them. "…That was almost too close. Well, you heard what they said, let's get the hell out of here."

The tech with the rifle was as shocked as the others. "B-but, Kol, we don't have to now!"

What remained of Kol's smirk left his face. "Yes we do. The Imperials are gonna notice one of their patrols're missing, and next time they send someone here, they won't wait a day to start blasting. Get to your ships." He seemed distracted while the others hurried to leave. He stopped one employee who passed by him. "Hey… if you can, call the owner of that speeder, tell him to pick it up outside, alright?"

Kol and his employees formed a pseudo-squadron in orbit of Corellia. "Alright…" The entire squad was confused by the sudden pause. "…What the hell should we call ourselves now? You have any suggestions, Duncan?"

The mechanic he addressed thought for a second. "Lessee… maybe Squad 18?"

Kol smiled. "Perfect! Alright, Squad 18, let's put as much distance between ourselves and Corellia as possible."

Before they could enter hyperspace, a large gray wedge blocked their way. Duncan sighed. "Surprise, surprise. Star Destroyer, and it's launching fighters!"

Another mechanic chuckled. "What's it gonna throw at us, plain TIE Fighters? Those things couldn't take more than one shot from Kol."

The good nature of the pilots faded when they saw what was attacking them. Duncan was near speechless. "What… the hell are those?" Whatever they were, they didn't look like any TIEs ever seen before: they had what was like the wings of a TIE Interceptor, connected to the pod on the other side. The three wings gave it almost the appearance of a triangle. It opened fire, immediately destroying one of Squad 18's A-wings.

The squad scattered as more bolts headed towards them, intending to do the same to them. "Power up your shields! Keep your lasers at heightened charge, we'll see how long these guys can last." Kol turned back, firing on one of the TIEs. It was shielded. "Squad, some jackass is breaking Imperial protocol, these things have shields."

An X-wing and a Y-wing had both focused fire on one of the TIEs. Their prolonged barrage had managed to finally slice through the shields and stab at the fighter inside. All three of the wings blew off, leaving a flaming capsule, which self-destructed shortly after. The X-wing pilot remarked, "They probably have hyperdrives, too, I bet."

One of the pilots initiated contact with the squad. "This is GM-185 from the Imperial Star Destroyer _Tyrant_. If you surrender now, you will be allowed to live."

Kol grunted. "Dream on, pal. You'll have to disable us to get us in that ship."

GM-185 nodded. "As you wish." The TIEs began firing ion cannons. Over half of Kol's squad was disabled within seconds.

Kol and one A-wing were the only fighters who had avoided the ion bolts, but the A-wing soon fell prey to them as well. Kol now had a full squad of the TIEs tailing him, the whitish-blue ion bolts tearing through the vacuum of space. He attempted to turn in a circle to put himself behind the TIEs, but they followed him the entire way. "Damn it!" He didn't get a second chance; the ion bolts finally began colliding with his ship. His shields, his cannons, his targeting computer and subsequently his engines were all disabled.

The TIEs brought their ships to a stop near Kol's fighter. "All hostiles destroyed or disabled. Get some tugs out here and pull the disabled ones back to the _Tyrant_."


	9. Star Destroyer Tyrant

**IX: Imperial Mercenary**

Very few of the rebelling squad's ships had lasted long enough for the TIEs to switch from the deadly green blaster bolts to the disabling blue ion bolts. Only 5 ships that weren't Imperial-owned had made it into the _Tyrant's_ hangar, in fact.

A number of technicians had greeted the Imperial pilots when they made it back; some of them trying to start conversation, some examining the fighters for any damage, and one began checking the ships belonging to the prisoners.

GM-185 had approached that one, wanting to make sure the tech got it right. "Let's see… looks like you guys brought one RZ-1 interceptor, two T-65 fighters, one BTL-A4 bomber, and one KSE-12a fighter." He blinked, just realized how _old_ that last ship had to have been. "…A KSE-12a? You guys bagged an antique." GM nodded, his slight smirk hidden by the jet-black helmet. He turned to follow the prisoner convoy, as they were lead to interrogation.

The survivors had been lead into a pitch-black room, a stark contrast to the gleaming white of the hallways they had passed through not ten seconds earlier.

And, of course, because it was pitch black in there, the Imperials just _had_ to shine a very bright light right in the prisoners' faces. Kol sighed. _I hate these guys._

GM-185 walked in at that moment. "Well, well… according to the reports, your name is Kol Kotha. Correct?" Kol grunted. "Just as I thought. I won't bother questioning how anyone can really believe you when you say that, though; I imagine you caught enough flak for that before we came into the picture."

Kol sighed again. The Imperials seemed to know everything. "You mind telling us where we're going?"

GM turned away, took a few slow steps. He was completely relaxed, even though he had at least two of his new worst enemies sitting no less than seven feet away from him. "We're heading to the Hoth system. Word on the ship is, a probe found something on a remote planet… Hoth, ever heard of it? Course you have, that's where your base is."

Duncan stared up, surprised as hell. "What are you talking about? Is it the Alliance? We're not with them!"

GM's helmet once again hid his smirk. "Sure, you say that _now_… but we'll see soon enough if you've been saying that all along." Kol lightly chuckled. _There's something about this guy that's really fucking weird. How many protocols does this ship break per day?_

A background check had cleared it: none of them were affiliated with the Alliance. The only one who had seen any real action was Kol, though both he and GM knew _he_ hadn't actually seen it. "Alright, the background check is clear, but…" That bastard. He had worded the sentence carefully so as to raise their hopes and almost immediately shatter them. "…You're still wanted for the stolen merchandise you've sold…"

Duncan growled. "We told you, we didn't sell it!"

GM continued. "… And on top of that, you've murdered five Imperials today. Four in your warehouse, then one kill in space." He stared at them, Kol in particular. "You're pretty good at killing, I'll give you that. Maybe you'll be able to put that to good use." He left the room; about a second later, two white-clad stormtroopers walked in and moved the squad into the holding cells.

Kol sighed. The cells were cold, poorly maintained, and the "food", if they dared call it that, was terrible.

For no apparent reason, Kol had been placed in a separate cell. Everyone else was placed in groups of four or five in the other cells. He now had two choices of activity: stare at the floor, or listen in one what his employees were saying. Within three seconds he already knew everything there was to know about that floor, so he leaned towards the bars and listened to the others.

The only other one he really knew the name of was talking. "…I really hate that guy. He thinks he can act like that because he managed to kill a few…"

Another one cut him off. "Yeah. There's something weird about that one…what's his name again?"

The very pilot they were speaking of answered. "GM-185." They all jumped. "Evening, boys, there's some more business I have with…" He turned to the cell with Kol in it. "…With who you think is Kol Kotha."

The way that sentence was worded really pissed one of them off. "Why the hell are you acting like he's someone else? He's Kol Kotha, you idiot!"

GM feigned being hurt. "Oh, your cruel words have pierced me like a vibroblade." He barely kept himself from laughing out loud right after. "Alright, Kol, you're coming with me." He opened the cell door, and was surprised when Kol didn't pull anything immediately. They left the detention area, leaving the other employees confused, and in the case of one, angry.

Kol was brought to the bridge. Perhaps they would give him some form of trial, before they inevitably found him guilty and passed their harsh judgment on him.

Something was not right, however. The judges seemed against passing any of the harsh judgments he had imagined.

He wasn't really paying attention to what they said… they hadn't asked him anything, but suddenly, "…not guilty." His head shot up. _What?_ Of course there was a catch: "…on one condition."

He looked around, confused. "What…condition?"

"The pilot who brought you in has shown interest in your abilities as a fighter pilot. We've seen it too, so… We've decided to cut you a deal. You have two choices: join the Imperial Navy, or…"

Another Imperial, dressed in an odd armor he had never seen before slowly drew a vibroblade.

Kol sighed. _Not much of a choice, is it._ He smirked, as he imagined GM-185 was doing as well. "Sure thing. It probably pays better than running that old warehouse."

GM stepped forward. "One dealing with a hot inventory, no less. You heard him, sirs."

"We indeed did. GM-185, show him to his quarters, and help him prepare for battle. We've nearly reached the Hoth system."

Kol took very little time dressing in the black pilot suit. It was almost exactly the same as every other one on the ship. There was only one minor difference between each: the two-letter, three-number designation that set him apart from the thousands of other Imperial soldiers and pilots. He was given the designation KG-742. And, as luck would have it, he was placed in the same squad as GM-185.

Kol had learned the story when they had exited hyperspace. The Super Star Destroyer _Executor_ had exited too close to Hoth. The Rebels had activated a theater shield over their base, which shattered Darth Vader's initial plan to bombard them from orbit. The _Executor_ saw a quick change in the chain of command, courtesy of Vader, and they devised a new strategy. They would have to launch a ground assault on the Rebel base: sweep in, overwhelm the rebels, and take their base.

The Rebels had an entirely different plan. They were going to launch Mon Calamari-built transports to get their commanders off of the planet and somewhere much safer. Their plan seemed to have a fatal flaw, however; the transports were going to take a route that meant they would have to fight their way past the _Tyrant_, and on top of that, they would only have two T-65 X-wing fighters supporting them. This was going to be too easy.

GM was still in the process of showing Kol throughout the ship when an alert sounded. "_**All personnel, report to battlestations! Rebellion transport spotted at 9 o'clock!**_" The two pilots nodded at each other and hurried towards their hangar, more or less; Kol wasn't sure where to get there from where he was, and just followed GM.

Captain Lennox watched from the bridge. "Fools, do they really think they can get through us with just two starfighters supporting them?"

The executive officer, Lieutenant Cabbel, and many of the other crewmates nodded to themselves in agreement; not even the Rebels would be that crazy. One of them noted something at his station, though. "Uh, Captain Lennox, sir, something's coming up on sensors."

Lennox continued staring at the transport. "What is it?" He suddenly saw it; a white flash coming from the planet. It impacted with the _Tyrant_, and two more similar flashes followed. The lights flickered, and dimmed. "What was that?!"

The man at sensors sighed. "Planetary ion cannon, sir. We've been disabled." Lennox growled as the transport passed by them.


	10. Hoth Asteroid Belt

**X: Reconnaissance**

Kol had counted the number of transports that had attempted escape. There were 30 of them. The story he patched together from rumors and visual confirmation told that 17 of them were destroyed. On top of that, General Veers had pulled Blizzard Force through the Rebel defenses and destroyed their shield generator.

It would be a ground battle now, and as far as anyone could tell, the Empire would win. Snowtroopers were pouring into Echo Base and killing any Rebels they could find. The Rebels were still attempting to escape, however; there were reports of a few smaller ships breaking through the blockade: a few T-65s, one YT-1300. The YT-1300 managed to make them look foolish, even; it was the first time Kol knew of that two Star Destroyers actually scraped against each other in space.

Not much had happened since: the _Tyrant's_ systems came back online, and all the Rebel transports had left Hoth, either through hyperspace or a face-full of turbolasers. Kol stretched. "Well, guess that's the end of that. I didn't even get to leave the ship."

GM-185 sat down on a nearby chair. "Oh well, maybe next time we'll see some—"

An urgent message over the intercom interrupted him. "Attention all personnel: Allied Star Destroyer is under attack by Rebel forces."

The Captain spoke over the intercom as well, from the bridge. "What's attacking?"

A short pause as the guy on the other end checked. "One YT-2400 transport. Computer identifies it as _Outrider_."

"Alright, I'll decide what course of action to take. Just one freighter, though? I'm sure they won't need our help."

GM-185 suddenly had an idea. "Hey, KG-742, I just thought of a way to get you off the ship."

A few minutes later they were on the bridge, speaking their case to the Captain. "You say you want the new recruit to lead a squadron of TIEs to support the Star Destroyer?"

GM nodded. "Yes, sir. I figure it's a good way he could see some action, and it can help ensure he knows not to shoot TIEs."

Lennox sighed at GM's usual smartass attitude. "Very well. KG-742, you are to take your ship and lead a squadron of twenty TIE Bombers to support their own fighter squadron. Do not directly engage the _Outrider_, only support the bombers. If the _Outrider_ is destroyed, flees, or destroys all TIEs in the operational theater, report back to base."

Kol nodded. He couldn't shake the feeling this Captain loved the sound of his own voice. He saluted the Captain, got a salute in return, and then walked off to the hangar.

GM followed close behind. "You're not planning on disobeying orders, are you?"

Kol shrugged. "I _would_ like to see some action, but I doubt the first day on the job is the right time to disobey orders." He started at the ceiling for a while. "…Hey, when he said 'your ship', did he mean one of those TIEs or…"

"Your fighter. I'm not entirely sure myself, but it would be a better idea to use your own ship."

"How come?"

"If the freighter discovers you, he won't immediately know you're with us."

"Oh. Makes sense." Before he knew it they were at the hangar. _I gotta ask for a map of this ship._ He climbed into his KSE-12a for the second time that day. A tech waved him towards the shielded opening. He fed power to the engines, slowly moving out of the hangar, and soon had cleared the shield separating the open hangar from the empty vacuum. Shortly after, from a second hangar below, 20 TIE Bombers were launched one at a time. They grouped up behind him and began following. They fed full power to their engines; Kol had to go at a speed slower than full to allow the Bombers to keep up with him.

Shortly before they arrived at the waypoint, Lennox contacted him. After making sure Kol was on his way, he informed him that someone had secretly installed new hardware into his ship, though he didn't know what. "…If you can, try to find out what that new hardware does, will you? Captain Lennox over and out."

Kol sighed. "Alright, let's see what that thing's up to." He turned the engines off and waited as his fighter coasted itself to a spot near an immobile asteroid that allowed him a decent vantage point over the battle. The Bombers split off and began the assault.

Through the asteroids he could see most of the battle. Whatever the other Star Destroyer was called, it wasn't equipped with the same fighters as the _Tyrant_. It had standard TIE Fighters and Bombers. He did a quick check on his equipment; the Destroyer had sent **fifty TIE Fighters** to take the _Outrider_ out. "50, huh? Yeah… Imperials always try to outnumber opponents in dogfights."

Once again, the Rebels seemed to prove that the philosophy of quantity over quality was fatally flawed. The _Outrider_'s swiveling turrets were able to make quick work of three Fighters in less than ten seconds. "He's good." A pair of Bombers swooped in, releasing bombs on the freighter. The _Outrider_ actually shot the bombs out of the sky, then destroyed the Bombers before they could try again. "He's _really_ good."

The last of the TIEs fell to the turrets. "Well, that takes care of every pilot from that Star Destroyer. What—" The _Outrider_ quickly exited the asteroid field and jumped to hyperspace. "…Oh."

He established communication with the _Tyrant_. "KG-742 to Captain Lennox, come in."

Lennox's voice came through a bit of static. "Captain Lennox here. What's your situation?"

"The _Outrider_ just took out every TIE this Star Destroyer sent against it, and jumped to hyperspace, sir."

"How many TIEs?"

"My equipment counted fifty Fighters, sir."

Lennox responded exactly as Kol expected: silent disbelief. "…Very well. KG-742, return to the _Tyrant_."

"Affirmative."


	11. Mos Eisley

**XI: Enter Mos Eisley**

It had been about three weeks since the Battle of Hoth had ended. A lot of action had occurred since: Rebels blasting their way out of Echo Base, more than one chase through the nearby asteroid field, then the action shifted to the nearby planet Bespin. Darth Vader had lead a force of stormtroopers to occupy the planet's capital of Cloud City, laying a trap for a certain smuggler. Rumor had it Vader wasn't quite himself after leaving the Anoat system; perhaps something had happened while he was on the planet. Almost as soon as he had left the system, a large Rebel force attacked in an attempt to liberate the city. They managed to push the Imperials out of Cloud City and the surrounding tibanna gas platforms.

Just like at Hoth, though, Kol had seen just about none of that action. He had stayed on the _Tyrant_ like a good soldier for the remainder of the battle, and when it was revealed the _Tyrant_ would not be stationed at Bespin, Kol had taken the chance to catch up on his sleep. When he awoke, the _Executor_ had also left the Anoat system, and naturally, every other Star Destroyer in Death Squadron had followed suit. They were on their way to Coruscant, the Imperial capital.

Kol hadn't even taken three steps out of his room when an officer stopped him. "KG-742."

"Yeah, that's me."

"I have a message from Captain Lennox, he wishes you to spend time off the _Tyrant_ until it is called into active combat duty again."

"…Uh-huh. Vacation, huh?" He looked at the wall, holding his chin in his hand. "Where will I spend it, though?"

The officer lightly sighed, already able to tell Kol would be as bad as GM. "We're nearing Kinyen. The Captain says he'll stop there and allow anyone on… 'vacation', as you put it, to take a shuttle to where they wish to stay until they are recalled."

Kol, having spent many hours in space beforehand, already knew most of the planets nearby. "Tatooine's quite a bit far off from here, isn't it"?

"Huh? Oh. Yes, it is a large number of lightyears away from our current location."

"Alright then, guess I'll stay there." Kol turned to go back into his room to wait for the _Tyrant_ to temporarily exit hyperspace.

The officer stopped him. "But no shuttle will be leaving for Tatooine!"

Kol looked back towards the officer, smirking. "Who says I'm taking a shuttle?" The door closed before the officer could protest anymore.

Days later… 

"Kol Kotha, requesting permission to land."

"Docking Bay 87 here. Re-state your name and ship class."

"Kol Kotha, KSE-12a." A short pause as the guy on the other end got over his shock.

"Affirmative. Permission to land granted at Bay 87."

Kol guided his ship into the port, landed it next to a T-16 Skyhopper. After paying a fee of 30 credits to an official, he first decided to find a cantina. After about an hour of mindlessly wandering about the city, he finally had the sense to ask for directions. The first person he asked directed him to the nearest one, right across the street.

Kol would have collapsed right in the doorway of the cantina, but that would have drawn the attention of everyone inside. He didn't want that, especially since he was now an Imperial and the Empire didn't exactly have a strong presence on Tatooine. He ordered a glass of blue milk and sat on his own at one table.

Things quickly got boring. No one seemed to be really doing _anything_. There were a few sabacc games, but Kol had to admit he has absolutely no luck at the game. He had heard stories of smugglers losing their heavily modified ships in sabacc games, and he wasn't about to risk losing his Dagger in the same way.

Kol wasn't the only one who noticed the sudden roar of swoop bike engines. Kol, sensing adventure, stood and walked back outside in time to see a trio of swoops, Flare-S models. The group seemed to be a mixed bunch of Human and Cerean. One of them, probably the leader, announced their intention. "Skywalker is hiding at Kenobi's old place. Jabba will pay extra to the one who **blasts** his bones!" He zoomed off with the others following shortly.

Kol tried to think about what he just heard and what he should do. Before he could truly clear his head and think straight, he heard another voice, nearby. "…He can't handle all of them!" He looked towards the source of the voice and saw an oddly dressed fellow, running off to find his swoop.

"Hm… Skywalker… Kenobi's place… this could be useful."


	12. Mos Eisley and Beggar's Canyon

**XII: Beggar's Canyon Chase**

Kol found a shortcut that would place him ahead of the swoops. That would be good for now, but sooner or later they'd be on a straightaway, and by then no organic could keep up with them. Thankfully, a speeder was sitting nearby, unoccupied; but unfortunately, someone else already owned it.

Kol decided to take the chance to let someone else drive. He hurried to the speeder and immediately grabbed the owner's attention. "Excuse me, are you the owner of this speeder?"

The man looked up. "Uh, yeah, it's my speeder, why?"

"If it's not too much trouble could you help me keep up with someone?"

"Sure. Who?"

The swoops slid out from a tight curve. They were barely able to turn back the other way, coming just less than 5 feet away from knocking Kol over with the back end. "Them." The speeder's owner nodded and let Kol in.

The speeder wasn't like any other speeder Kol would have found on Tatooine; it was able to fly above a meter off the ground. It was a lot like the kind found on Coruscant, the kind that might as well have been space-capable if life support systems were added. This ability to fly aided Kol greatly; there were many swoops spread out through the streets of Mos Eisley, and since they all had the same basic destination, it was easy for the speeder to skip all the twists and turns.

The pilot was the first to notice another swoop. "Hey, that one's moving a bit faster than the others." Kol looked over and noticed him too. He was the one from the cantina. He maneuvered his swoop right next to one of the gang swoops and rammed it from the side. The force of the collision caused the pilot to lose control; his swoop spun 90 degrees as it was forced off course and collided with the side of a building.

"That one's trying to take the other ones out. Try to keep up with him."

The pilot nodded and began staying near the lone swoop. He continued the pattern of sending the others to their doom. It went on for about two minutes and saw five of the gang swoops explode before they finally exited Mos Eisley. The next part would be much more dangerous: they were now in Beggar's Canyon.

It quickly turned out that the canyon WAS more dangerous than the streets of Mos Eisley; a few of the gang swoops started crashing without their enemy's help. Only three swoops remained, one of them piloted by the man from the cantina. He finally caught up with the first of the two gang swoops and forced it into the canyon wall. After scraping against the wall for a few seconds it caught fire and exploded. One left.

The canyon seemed to stretch on forever. Unfortunately the distance between the two swoops didn't seem to close much during the long trip. Kol became bored enough that he stopped paying attention, until the speeder pilot warned him that they were finally coming to the end of the canyon. He looked over again…

In the distance he saw something he could never expect. It looked like a gigantic stone needle. A large circle a few meters below its top, just about big enough to let a swoop through, was positioned at the very end of the canyon. It looked like the swoops would have to jump through it to make it out.

The two swoops finally came close enough for the one to try to destroy the gang swoop. Before he had the chance, the gang swoop suddenly sped forward faster than the other could go. The first swoop was nearly at the jump when he finally caught back up and smacked the back of the gang swoop with his front end. It wasn't enough to make the gang swoop lose control, but it was enough for him to go off his intended course; when he jumped, he collided with the side of the stone needle.

The swoop that caused the crash was able to get back on course in time to make the jump. Kol heard the pilot chuckle and mention something about threading a needle. He then brought his own speeder to a much slower pace. "Alright, it looks like he's done. You want to be let off here?"

Kol nodded, and hopped out of the speeder when it had landed. He thanked the pilot, and took a few steps toward where the swoop had stopped. He himself stopped, distracted for a bit; he then turned around to ask the pilot for his name, but the speeder was already heading back for Mos Eisley. "…Oh well."

He hid himself behind a random small rock formation. Peeking out from behind, he saw the swoop jockey speaking with a dark-cloaked figure that emerged from a small hut. This was the closest Kol could get, though, and it wasn't close enough to hear anything either of them said over the hum of the swoop engine. He sighed. "Well, that was a wasted tri—"

The wrist communicator he was issued just before leaving the _Tyrant _beeped. He answered and was greeted by a familiar voice. "Hey, Kol, how're you doing?"

"GM! What's up?"

"Something big, Kol. I heard a rumor you might be interested in."

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"Well, one of our freighters, the _Suprosa_, has on it top-secret Imperial plans. No one on the _Tyrant _has the clearance to know what it is, but it's something very important."

"I see. What does this have to do with me?"

"The Rebels know where the _Suprosa _is going to be in a few hours."

"What? How did they figure out?"

"They were given the info by agents from some organization. I asked around a bit. I was finally able to find out who it was. The agents work for Bla—" The communication was abruptly severed. Kol tapped the communicator. "GM-185, come in. Who were the agents working for? …GM? Crap." He sighed, and looked back up towards the hut to see that the cloaked figure and the swoop jockey had both disappeared. "Damn it." Kol checked to make sure they weren't right behind him, then stood and began to walk back towards Mos Eisley.

Before he took five steps, he looked back to the hut. The swoop bike was still there, just without a pilot. Kol didn't need more than half a second to make up his mind; he stole the swoop and rode it back, at a _much _slower pace than the previous owner had been taking it.


	13. Mesa 291

**XIII: Underground Duel**

An urgent, galaxy-wide transmission was sent: any Imperial pilots that could make it to Bothan space were ordered to do so as fast as possible, and rendezvous with the _Imperial II_ Star Destroyer _Motivator_, which had set a trap for Alliance forces attacking a freighter in orbit of Bothawui.

Kol rode the swoop as fast as possible, making it to Docking Bay 87 in a few short minutes. Before leaving, he sold the swoop to a merchant for a hefty amount of credits. Just before entering hyperspace, he remembered the transmission with GM, and how it had been cut off. He checked his communicator's logs to find out where the transmission originated: Bothawui, which wasn't too far from where the action was. He entered hyperspace and decided to take a short nap.

He awoke about five minutes before exiting hyperspace. He was the only one in this sector of Bothawui's orbit. He checked his logs again and found out where on the planet the transmission had originated. It claimed to originate from an abandoned mine, Mesa 291. Kol landed in front of one of the entrances, locked his ship and, with an E-11 blaster rifle in hand, he ventured forth.

It was early in the day; early enough that the planet's sun was able to shine its rays into the mine. It was a good thing, too, as none of the light fixtures on the walls were active, and Kol didn't find a switch to activate them. Kol began to relax a little, finding the trek boring; but he kept both hands on his rifle when he remembered what had happened the last time he began to find something boring.

Eventually he reached a space farther than the sun's rays could enter, and it would have become too dark for him to continue if not for some of the light fixtures from this point were active. He looked all around to make sure he was the only organic there, and continued on his way.

Finally, he reached what looked like a table. On it was an audio log. Kol cautiously approached it, and when no traps sprang to kill him, he pressed a button on it and listened to its message.

GM-185's voice came through. "This is GM-185 of the Imperial Navy… Kol, if you're hearing this, I'm glad you were concerned about me. … Those rumors were true. The _Suprosa_ is carrying top-secret plans, and the Alliance knows that. They know that the _Suprosa_ will be in Bothawui's orbit soon, as well…. I found out who gave them the information. But, I know too much, and now those agents want me dead. …I hope I can trust you to know who sent the information…" A gulp. "…Black Sun. They gave the info. I'm going to have to leave this log here, for you to find… hopefully it's you, and not one of them. I'm afraid that my life is going to end today… but I'm going to take out as many of them as possible. If I can somehow beat them all… I'll see you in orbit, Kol." The log ended.

Kol sighed. "Good luck." He turned and saw a trio of figures in black keeping him from leaving. "…And who are you three?"

The first one took one step forward. "We are the agents you just heard about."

Kol swallowed. "The ones from Black Sun?"

"Indeed."

The second stepped forward as well. "But since you know that, we now have to kill you."

The third lined up with the first two. With a chuckle, he stated, "I'm going to enjoy this."

Kol smirked. "I bet you will." In a flash, he brought the E-11 rifle to his shoulder and fired. Apparently, the lack of lighting in the path kept it concealed from their view. This aided Kol, as before they could react the bolt nailed the third agent right between the eyes. The other two jumped away and drew vibroblades. One growled, "You'll pay for that!" Kol fired a trio of bolts at that one, though the assailant was too fast and too aware to die as quickly as the other had.

The other one had also drawn a vibroblade and began harassing Kol up close. He attempted a downward slice; Kol moved to the side and bashed the side of his head with his rifle. It dazed him for a moment, and Kol took the opportunity to shoot. Three bolts hit the attacker's chest, but it wasn't enough to kill him and he jumped away again. At this point the first jumped in and grabbed Kol's wrist, forcing the rifle out of his hands.

Kol returned the favor; with a grab of his attacker's wrist, he stole the vibroblade, then threw the attacker over his shoulder. He ran towards his rifle, grabbed it in his left hand and fired a shot towards his opponent. He must have been lucky today, as the bolt hit the agent just above his right ear, killing him.

Spinning on his heel, he brought his stolen vibroblade between him and the last assailant's blade, saving him from an attack that would have severed half of his chest. A quick left-handed punch pushed the agent away; while the attacker was dazed for the second time during the fight, Kol ran him through with the vibroblade, managing to pin his dying foe to the wall. He stepped back, not allowing his dying enemy the chance to kill Kol before he died from the vibroblade shoved through his ribs.

Kol exhaled. "Well that was fun." He grabbed his rifle, dusted it off, and began to leave. Before he could get too far though, the agent pinned to the wall coughed. "Hey… your friend who left that log… he says he'll meet you in orbit, doesn't he?"

Kol looked back at him slowly. "Yeah… what about that?"

The agent smirked, blood lining the sides of his mouth. "He lied. We killed him. Quite easily, too." He began laughing maniacally. His laughter echoed through the path for no more than two seconds before a blaster bolt sent right into his mouth shut him up.


	14. Kothlis Orbit

**XIV: Razor Rendezvous Redux**

In orbit of Kothlis, one Corellian corvette, the _Razor_, held very important information. Stolen from the Imperial freighter_Suprosa_, this data could turn the tide of the war in the Rebellion's favor. As the _Razor_ attempted to rendezvous with the rest of the Rebel fleet, however, things went bad: the _Imperial II_-class Star Destroyer _Motivator_ exited hyperspace and began launching TIE Fighters. Things went even worse when the _Razor_ was caught in the Star Destroyer's tractor beams, as its crew attempted to recapture the stolen data before the Rebels could learn anything from it.

Almost immediately after, the Nebulon-B frigate_Redemption_ arrived from the opposite side. Within its hangars lay the famed Rogue Squadron. Launching in Slayn & Korpil B-wing starfighters, they began their assault on the _Motivator_ and its TIE squadrons.

Kol, in his KSE-12a, had left Bothawui's orbit and hauled ass to Kothlis, arriving just as the Rogues were launching. Someone on board the _Motivator_ noticed and called him. "Star Destroyer _Motivator_ to allied vessel, come in."

Kol tapped the button to receive the transmission. "KG-742 to _Motivator_. Sorry if I'm late for the party. Awaiting orders."

The captain took over. "Captain Briera to KG-742. You're not in a TIE, are you? We can use that to our advantage... act as a vessel sympathetic to the Alliance, try to aid them for a while. As soon as you see a chance to deal major damage, do it."

Kol nodded, deactivating the signal that broadcast his vessel as Imperial-owned. "Affirmative. I'll see what I can do."

He swooped in towards the Rebellion fleet. Thankfully, they hadn't noticed him until now; if they had just a few seconds earlier... "Frigate _Redemption_ to unidentified vessel. State your intention."

Kol smirked, tried to sound sincere. "I'm just a fighter pilot eager to help the Alliance. I heard rumors that something big was going to happen here so I came to check it out."

A few seconds as the voice on the other end processed his lie. "Alright, welcome to the Alliance. You can help by attacking those TIE fighters. Follow Rogue Squadron."

Kol grinned widely; that they believed him seemed so funny. "Roger that." He followed after the Rogues, cut into their communication.

Rogue 3 spoke up. "Alright Rogues, let's form up." Acknowledgements from almost the entire squad. After two seconds, "Hey, who's that behind us?"

Kol still had his grin on. "I'm here to help. Someone on the frigate back there told me to stay with you guys."

Rogue 3 didn't seem too sure. "...Well, okay, if she said so. Stay with Rogue 5." Rogue 5's acknowledgement light winked.

Kol seemed to be extraordinarily lucky today: Rogue 5 was leading the flight that would focus on engaging the _Motivator_'s TIE Fighters. That meant he didn't have to deal any direct damage to one of his own ships; and if he didn't make any TIE kills, he could lie and attribute it to inexperience. Sure, that would have gotten him kicked out of the Alliance, but it was all good: he didn't intend to stay.

Three TIEs flew up behind Rogue 5 and fired. He took a few hits before rolling out of the way, with two other Rogues and Kol following behind him. The TIEs didn't follow for a bit when they had noticed Kol's fighter; last they heard, the only KSE-12a used anymore was in Imperial hands. They were even more confused when the fighter didn't return fire.

A few minutes passed. The Rogues had managed to knock out both of the _Motivator_'s shield generators and were now going for its command bridge. Kol knew he'd have to take his chance soon. He kept his eyes and ears open for something, and thankfully that something came. Rogue 3's voice came over the comm link. "Rogue 3 to squadron, I'm taking too much damage. I'm going to have to pull out, over."

Kol grinned again. He nearly died of joy when Rogue 3 asked for one fighter to escort him back to the Redemption. Kol offered immediately, broke off from Rogue 5 and began following close to Rogue 3.

Rogue 3 felt now was a time to start a conversation. "So, kid, what's your name?"

Kol tried to suppress his chuckle. It was time for the final act. "It's, uh, Kol Kotha. How about you?"

"Wedge Antilles. I've been with the Rebellion for a while now, and let me tell ya, the Imperials do know how to fight. I've been in plenty of battles; lucky I survived them all."

Kol's mind worked at lightning speed, coming up with what he thought to be fitting final words for his performance. "May have been lucky then, but I think your luck has just run out." Before Wedge could even exhale, Kol zeroed in on the back of the B-wing and opened fire. Blast it, he had waited too long; the blue film of an energy shield was still there. His shields were at least one-third recharged; he must have been diverting power from his engines to his shields. That would explain the slow pace.

Wedge immediately turned, opening his fighter's S-foils and returning fire. "What the hell--?!" The force of the bolts smacked Kol's fighter around, though his shields were still strong. He high-tailed back for the Motivator as Wedge frantically warned the others. "Rogue 3 to Rebel fleet, that new recruit's working for the Empire! Take him out before he gets back to the Star Destroyer!"

Kol was too fast, however; a few bolts came his way but none hit him. He switched back on the Imperial identification signal, clearing up all confusion on both sides. The Captain called again. "Captain Briera to KG-742, good work. It appears they won't be so trusting for new recruits from now on. Return to the _Motivator_ for repairs and resupply." Kol acknowledged and guided his ship into one of the hangars.

Kol was attempting to spend his time helping out on-board the captured _Razor_, but before he could get there, the command bridge was destroyed. The crew lost all control of the _Motivator_ as it began to fall into Kothlis' orbit. Kol tried to grab on to something to steady himself during re-entry.

When Kol woke up again, whether he knew it or not the _Razor_ was no more and the _Motivator_ had about half of its mass buried in the sand of a large Kothlis beach. The data was intact, however, which was all the Imperials needed. Unfortunately, it was all the Rebels needed too.

Some Rebels had managed to survive the crash by hiding out in the _Motivator_; almost as soon as the ship had stopped shaking they re-started the battle. Kol looked around; it seemed every other Imperial around him was dead. There was one Rebel left, though, one Kol didn't notice until she had a DL-44 blaster pistol pointed right at the back of his head. "Put your hands up."

Kol did so, slowly. He attempted to turn around to see who had snuck up behind him, also slowly; it was slow enough she didn't see it as a threat, judging by the fact Kol didn't find himself face-down, dead like every other Imperial there. "What's your name?"

Kol couldn't bring himself to smirk; pain from the crash and that he was in as much danger now as he had been just before he joined the Imperials. "My real one, or the one someone on the _Tyrant_ gave me?"

She scoffed. "Both."

Kol remained motionless and expressionless. "Kol Kotha, designation KG-742 in the Imperial Navy." He checked her over, saw she was badly injured too. "…How about you?"

"I don't feel like telling you." Kol sighed lightly. The woman tapped him with her blaster. "If you know what's good for you, you'll take me to where the data is."

Kol gulped. "Uhm… sorry, ma'am, but I have no clue where it is. I hadn't been on this ship for five minutes before some jackass blew the bridge sky-high and sent us crashing into whatever you find on Kothlis."

The woman sighed. An Imperial who knew even less than she did would not do. "I have no use for you then."

Kol oddly found that funny. "You so sure?"

She closed her eyes for a short second. "Yeah." When she reopened, Kol was no longer staring down the barrel of her blaster. He pressed an E-11 blaster to the back of her head. "How did you…?"

Kol chuckled. "You can only take your eyes off your opponent when said opponent is an idiot."

She growled. She had, in fact, thought him to be an idiot. He proved her wrong. "Alright, I surrender. Could you help me get out of here?"

Kol sighed, put away the blaster. "Y'know, I think I can. In fact, screw the Empire, I never get to _do_ anything."

The woman scratched her head, confused. She shrugged and followed Kol as he began walking down a hallway.


	15. Kothlis

**XV: Assault on the Beachhead**

The _Motivator_ was buried halfway in the sand of one of Kothlis' beaches. The secret data stolen from the_Suprosa_ was still safely tucked away within; the Rebels, however, had worked hard to capture the data and were not about to let the Empire take it back.

The plan was to send a transport, carrying Rebel commandos lead by Crix Madine, to the Star Destroyer, infiltrate, re-steal the data, and get back out. Escorting the transport were a trio of Rogue Squadron's X-wings. The transport landed about 1.4 kilometers away from the Star Destroyer; from there the commandos began their attack.

The hangars were relatively undamaged; about the same time the Rebels attacked, a trio of AT-AT walkers blasted their way through the hull and attacked. They had to traverse the water to get from the _Motivator_ to the Rebel transport, but the walkers were tall enough that their cannons were above the water, so they would be able to still fire from long range at the commandos.

Rogue Squadron had a different idea. They transferred into T-47 airspeeders the transport unloaded, and with the same technique they had demonstrated on Hoth, they tied the AT-AT's up and sent them tumbling into the water. With the big menace out of the way, legions of AT-ST and AT-PT walkers poured out to continue the battle. They were shorter than the AT-AT's, and as such would have to get within 100 meters of the shoreline to be able to fire on the Rebels, but on the other hand the water protected them from laser fire as well.

The transport next unloaded Y-wings. Quickly transferring to them, Rogue Squadron began launching proton bombs into the water, destroying most of the walkers before they could get their cannons above the surface and fire. The ones lucky enough to make it out of the water were destroyed with laser fire. With the walkers out of the way, the Y-wings went to work on dropping proton bombs to part of the hull. The bombs ripped through the Star Destroyer and opened a path for the commandos to drop in. They had to work fast, however; they had received word that the _Motivator_'s reactor was going critical, and when it blew, the Star Destroyer and anyone still inside would go with it.

A pair of commandos had been separated from the rest; one, a male Bothan, and the other, female Human. They tried to see what trouble they could cause the Star Destroyer's crew while the others worked to steal the data. Unfortunately, they had ran into a larger group of Imperial stormtroopers; fortunately, the relative inaccuracy of the stormtroopers' E-11 blaster rifles gave them the advantage needed to win, though at the cost of the Bothan's life. The remaining commando wandered the halls about three minutes longer before she stumbled upon Kol.

After Kol officially defected to the Alliance and became the commando's new partner, the pair continued searching the hallways to link up with the rest of the Rebel forces. They stood in front of a door, though both were cautious to open it.

Kol stood at the side of the door, the E-11 from his fighter's compartment in hand. "Stand over there. I'll open the door; from here I'll only see part of what's inside, and only part of what's inside will see me. I think you know the drill." She nodded, and Kol took a small step forward.

The door slid open. Stormtroopers on the other side turned around, confused. "Is someone there?"

Kol decided to keep himself calm through humor. "Uh…no, just the wind."

One of the troopers recognized the voice as Kol's; assuming Kol was still Imperial, he laughed at it. "Nice try, KG-742. Now get in here before you're attacked by Rebels."

Kol walked in calmly; with a wink at the Rebel girl she began acting as though he had captured her. "Don't shoot, guys, I detained this Rebel."

The second trooper nodded. "Alright. If we get out of here we—" An explosion ripped through the door behind the troopers, and more Rebel commandos poured through the smoke, unloading their blasters into the troopers. "What the f—?!" A blaster bolt impacted with the trooper's forehead.

Kol ripped off his Imperial pilot helmet. Tossing the female commando's rifle back to her, he fired on the other two stormtroopers. When they fell, the Rebels turned their rifles on Kol, but held their fire. The woman waved her arms. "Don't shoot! He's one of us!"

One commando lowered his rifle. "What's going on here, Alex? He looks Imperial."

Kol was confused at the oddly masculine name; it must have been a nickname. Alex tried to convince her comrades Kol was one of them. "He defected. He claims he hasn't been able to do anything with the Empire."

Kol nodded. "Besides, I've killed more Imperials than I have Rebels." Before he could stop himself, he accidentally let them know he was the one who tried to betray them in space. "In fact, the closest I came to a kill since joining was attacking a B-wing from behind." The thought _you __**dumbass**_ flashed through his mind. "Er, uh… shit."

All of the Rebel rifles, excluding Alex's, were aimed at Kol's head. "You're the one who tried to kill Wedge?!"

Kol sighed. "Yeah, that was me, but that was before I defected. I'll personally apologize to this Wedge guy if you don't kill me."

Oddly enough, they decided that was a good enough bargain, and let him join. They were still wary, though, and they refused to let more than two commandos be ahead of him, one of which was Alex.

Shortly after they came upon the data. "Here it is." Crix Madine walked up to a console and decided to read the data. "Let's see… No wonder the Empire wanted this back."

Before anyone could ask what it was, more stormtroopers attacked. Crix downloaded the secret data to a datapad, while the others covered him. The transfer finished as the last trooper was downed, and the commandos began their retreat to their transport.

Kol, however, wished to save his KSE-12a; due to the large hole the AT-AT's blasted in the side of the _Motivator_, this would be possible. Alex followed him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"My ship is still in one of the hangars. It's an antique; I'm not about to just let it be destroyed."

"… Is there room for two?"

Kol turned towards Alex, chuckling. "Sure." He led her to the hangar; after a brief skirmish with some other Imperial pilots, he dragged a ladder to his fighter and climbed in, with Alex following. Kicking the ladder off, he closed the canopy and took off. More pilots fired BlasTech pistols at Kol's Dagger, forgetting that their DH-17s didn't have the power to penetrate a ship's hull. Kol zoomed out of the hole, while Alex modified the ship to send out a frequency that identified it as a Rebel ship.

Kol turned the frequency off, though. When Alex protested, he explained he needed some time before he actually flew missions; among other things, a new rifle to place in the secret compartment, new clothes, and minor repairs to the ship. "You want me to drop you off at the transport first?" Alex agreed; Kol landed long enough to let her off. He then left the planet's orbit, heading back to Tatooine to continue the vacation Black Sun had interrupted.


	16. Frigate Vulpine

**XVI: Return**

A black fog had been there for a week now. It lay everywhere, impacting both hearing and sight.

He could barely see fifteen feet into it. There was nothing around him except the fog; there had been nothing except the fog. He sighed. "Damn it. Where did this come from?" he asked for the twelfth time.

He examined the surrounding area once again. Something suddenly seemed… different.

The black fog finally lifted. He could finally open his eyes again. "Where… where am I?" He opened his eyes and saw.

He was on board a Nebulon-B frigate. He tried to think of any frigate he would be on. _Was it…_

A familiar voice spoke. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Corporal."

Dax got up, slowly. "What happened?"

Sergeant Volk was there, a datapad in his hand. "Well, we sent you on a secret mission to… test your abilities."

"What kind of abilities?"

"We were testing if you would be capable of becoming a commando. You did really well, I must say; sneaking through the ventilation system the way you had, not to mention you didn't give anyone a chance to find the bodies."

Memories zoomed back into Dax's head. The _Blue Milk Run_. Odd name for a frigate. That probably meant he was now on the _Vulpine_; that would certainly explain Volk's appearance.

"So, that frigate I was on, was that really…?"

"No, it was a Rebel frigate. We stole the armor and weapons." He turned towards Dax. "Also, that DH-17 you were using? The modifications were for more than silencing it. It was a stun pistol."

Dax nodded. "I see… so, about that test..."

Volk looked back towards the datapad. "The score was about… 71. Bonus points for hiding the bodies well and sneaking through the vents, but failing the mission got rid of a bunch of those. Decent enough, at least."

Dax felt he was catching on. "So then, the security cameras were…"

"Exactly," Volk finished. "Linked directly to our own monitors, so we could see how well you did. Most of them were hidden, of course." He put that datapad on the bed, for Dax to examine and evaluate his own performance. Dax was a good soldier; he wasn't too proud to assume he did everything perfectly. He would learn from any mistakes he made… _or be able to realize when surrender is the only way to survive,_ Volk thought.

He continued the debriefing. "I would say that was just about a passing grade, Dax. As soon as your services are needed, you'll be sent as a spec-ops agent. You'll be working with the best, and your assignments will be much more difficult." Dax didn't exactly like the sound of that. If the sergeant's standard for difficulty was the test, Dax might not last very long in his new line of work. With the debriefing done, Volk left.

Dax had to get something to eat, badly. He had no clue how long he had been out, or even how long it had been between his post-Hoth lunch and the test. He entered the cafeteria, trying to find any food that hadn't been served to anyone yet. There, same as usual, the half-wall with the food and the servers on one side and the rest of the cafeteria on the other. The only one he saw in line was kind of short, though. And his head was oddly dome-shaped. Wait a minute.

"F3?" He walked over, tapped the droid. Its head spun towards him, with a short, confused beep. This quickly turned into what might as well have been a song of happiness in droidspeak. "Hey, glad to see you too, F3. Hey, uh… how long was I out?" A few beeps. "A week? Jesus." The food came back into his vision.

F3 and Dax found an empty table. Good. Dax would need all that room; he had piled a tray full of his favorite foods. As soon as he set the tray down and had seated himself, his stomach growled. Taking it like an order to charge, Dax assaulted the pile of food. If F3 hadn't understood humans as much as he did, he would probably have been disgusted.

Well, at least his friend was still alive. That counted for something.


End file.
